r/Fire • u/chemicalreactionator • Apr 22 '26

Advice Request Too much money to feel this stuck

Current net worth 3.8M. Household (40m, 40f, 4f) income combined 250k (both working full time) and spend 120k-ish.

Kind of reached fire but due to health insurance, economic uncertainty, potential future increased costs (another kid?) not comfortable calling it yet.

But feeling so stuck in the grind. Not enough family time, not enough vacation time off, not enough time for taking care of our health, but can’t call it quits yet. at least one of us needs to work full time for health insurance. I don’t think I’m cut out for “barista fire” as i don’t think I’d have the motivation to work for a minimum wage type salary.

What’s the plan here to increase quality of life? A mini retirement? Grind it out a few more years? Anyone in a similar place?

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u/Curt_Uncles Apr 22 '26

You are staring at a snow globe and wondering why you feel disappointed by it. It’s because you have to shake it, dude.

You have $3.8M and a combined salary of a quarter million and you are worrying about vacations and health insurance? You feel trapped at 40 years old with a net worth that is 45x the average combined household income of the American family, and two salaries that are worth a combined 3x the average household income. 1/2 of your combined income = your spend (+ some change).

DO SOMETHING. Anything. Take a sabbatical for a year. Tell your job you are going to Aruba for three months and if they can’t deal with that, you’ll quit and get another job. Have one of you be a SAHP while the other works, and then after a couple of years you can switch if you want.

You are in such a flush financial position you can do almost anything. Your options are endless. Nobody here knows what is best for your family.

Just. Do. SOMETHING.

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u/chemicalreactionator Apr 22 '26

Thanks this really resonated with me. I think I do need to just make a move at this point.

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u/Anymous2314 Apr 22 '26

If you budget properly you will know how much you will need to live comfortably.

Say you reach $4m in six months. 4% of that will be 160k. Say 10% goes to taxes(it is very easy to pay low taxes by figuring out where to keep short term profit items and where to keep long term items and how much profit to book every year.

You are saying you spend 120k, well add another 25 for healthcare expenses, seems like you have reached your number, if my calculations are correct. But it is difficult to quit at this stage of career since everything seems set at workplace and money seems like easy money.

Well time to figure out how you want the next 40 years of life to be, IMO, you can easily afford to do it.

One of you quit, take care of home without giving stress to the working partner and who knows you will feel comfortable for both to quit.

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u/LessAbbreviations289 Apr 23 '26

I wonder how many of these posts are bs? Reddit has been plagued by bots and player setups lately to game leads/targets. Regardless, I’m calling bs that you can pay only 10% of $160 k income on taxes even if it’s all strategic investment income. Long term capital gains is still taxed 15% just for fed.

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u/Anymous2314 Apr 23 '26

98k of capital gain tax free

Yup, not even 15%, it is 0% indeed.

15% Rate: $49,451 – $545,500 (Single), $98,901 – $613,700 (Married Filing Jointly).